KUALA LUMPUR (March 2): The 31 member countries of the governing board of the International Energy Agency (IEA) have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves to send a unified and strong message to global oil markets that there will be no shortfall in supplies as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement on its website on Tuesday (March 1), the IEA ministers noted with concern the energy security impact of the actions by Russia, and voiced support for sanctions imposed by the international community in response.

IEA executive director Dr Fatih Birol said the situation in energy markets is very serious and demands full attention.

“Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of the recovery,” he said.

IEA members hold emergency stockpiles of 1.5 billion barrels.

The announcement of an initial release of 60 million barrels, or 4% of those stockpiles, is equivalent to two million barrels a day for 30 days.

The coordinated drawdown is the fourth in the history of the IEA, which was created in 1974.

Previous collective actions were taken in 2011, 2005 and 1991.

Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer and the largest exporter.

Its exports of about five million barrels a day of crude oil represent roughly 12% of global trade — and its approximately 2.85 million barrels a day of petroleum products represent around 15% of global refined product trade.

Around 60% of Russia’s oil exports go to Europe and another 20% to China.

At the time of writing on Wednesday, Brent crude was up 4.23% or US$4.44 to US$109.41 (about RM458.59).